Typically, urinals use relatively high volume of water for flushing urine away; particularly, urinals, which are on a flush cycle where the urinal is flushed with clean water at timed intervals regardless of whether or not the urinal has been used. By flushing the urinal, the intention is that urine in the bowl is flushed away to a drain and thus struvite (urine stone) build up is reduced and odour from the urine feeding back through the urinal outlet is minimised.
In the situation of a low water or waterless urinal the outlet from the urinal can suffer from a build-up of struvite and calcium phosphate. The urinal bowl is generally robust and comprises a mounted ceramic or porcelain fixture on wall of a bathroom or washroom. Due to the low or zero water nature of the urinal there is no constant flow of flush water to clean the urinal and the associated drainage components. The main functional components in a low or zero water urinal relate to draining fluids away and preventing odours from emanating from the urinal.
A build-up of struvite and/or calcium phosphate provides a substance which adheres to fittings within the urinal and at its outlet. The deposits of struvite and/or calcium phosphate provide a medium upon which raw urine can adhere and therefore over a period of time foul odours may emanate from the urinal.
It will be appreciated that, typically, the urinal outlet area is provided with disposable components, which typically can be removed, replaced and/or cleaned to avoid the build-up of struvite, calcium phosphate and the like and to keep odours at a minimum.